Case Law Update – Issue 6 (2010)

ADJUDICATION

Reservation of Position on Jurisdiction

Aedifice Partnership Ltd v Ashwin Shah [2010] CILL 2905 TCC

In a dispute over professional fees which the claimant surveyors referred to adjudication, the respondent client submitted that there was no adjudication agreement and that the adjudicator had no jurisdiction. The adjudicator indicated that he thought that he had jurisdiction and the respondent asked for his reasons. In enforcement proceedings by the claimant, the respondent successfully argued that he had reserved his position on jurisdiction and that his request for reasons did not constitute an agreement that the adjudicator had the power to decide his own jurisdiction.